ICT Case Against Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman Dismissed

Rtv News

Publish : 13 Nov 2024, 07:53 PM

Photo: Collected

The High Court has dismissed the case filed under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act against former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.

On Wednesday, November 13, the bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayetur Rahman issued the order.

Barrister Chowdhury Ishraq Ahmed Siddiqui, along with lawyer Azmal Hossain, represented Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman in court.

The lawyers argued that the case was filed in a Chittagong court to harass Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman. They informed the court that the case was based on a Facebook post intended to harass the two leaders.

They further stated that the defendants had no involvement with the subject matter of the case. The plaintiff had been unable to present any evidence against them for an extended period. The case, they argued, was filed solely for political harassment. After the hearing, the court dismissed the case against Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.

In 2016, a case was filed in Chittagong under the ICT Act, accusing them in connection with a Facebook post threatening to kill then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This complaint was made under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act of 2006 (amended in 2013).

On October 3, 2016, Abdul Kader Sujon, Information and Research Secretary of the Chittagong South District Awami League, filed the complaint in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate ASM Shahidullah Kaiser in Chittagong.

The court then accepted the complaint and instructed the Officer-in-Charge of Boalkhali Police Station to proceed with it as a case.

The threat against Sheikh Hasina was allegedly made from a Facebook page attributed to Irad, son of BNP’s expelled leader Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, in 2016. Previously, a satirical image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had also appeared on that Facebook page.

Following this, several cases were filed against Irad in different locations. Additionally, under Section 57 of the ICT Act (amended 2013), a case was filed in a Chittagong court, implicating BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman. Subsequently, an appeal was filed in the High Court seeking to dismiss the case.

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